Viral Art Video Painfully Depicts How Slavery Led to Mass Incarceration | Sojourners

Viral Art Video Painfully Depicts How Slavery Led to Mass Incarceration

Screenshot via Youtube
Screenshot via Youtube

A new video developed by artist Molly Crabapple and the Equal Justice Initiative shows exactly how slavery paved the way for our current system of mass incarceration.

The video highlights the horror of the domestic slave trade, tracing the development of an elaborate mythology of racial difference — a mythology that once perpetuated slavery and now sustains mass incarceration.  

“In many former slave states, slavery did not end. It simply evolved,” says narrator Bryan Stevenson, who directs the Equal Justice Initiative.

Molly Crabapple, known for her artistic contributions to Occupy Wall Street, creates videos combining the fast-paced style of dry-erase animation with the intricate watercolors of an award-winning artist.

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In November 2014, Crabapple also released a video entitled ‘How Ferguson showed us the truth about police,’ which depicted the systemic nature of police brutality. Watch that video here.